This is the letter I send to an abbotsford councillor and the reply i recieved
Hello my name is Lina Krickemeyer and I don't live in Abbotsford but I am extremely outraged to hear about the current bylaw you are attempting to enforce on the people of Abbotsford. How can you tell people they cannot keep there beloved pets anymore? You say that your trying to keep people safe then why not ban dogs? They cause more harm to people than little creatures such small non posionous lizards,
sugar gliders, and chinchilla's. What could they ever do to anyone except sit there? I'd like to see the scientific proof that shows these pets are a threat to people. The idea of banning tarantulas bothers me as well. My significant other has one and it is no threat to anyone if kept properly. How many people have died of a tarantula bites recently, not one. They are no more of a threat then a chinchilla. Your catagory of "exotic animals" is too broad. You should ban only potentially dangerous animals and not one's that could do no harm. There is a potentially dangerous threat of these bylaws comming and affecting my area of Langley and we already keep lizards and in summer I'm getting a
sugar glider. I cannot believe that your atempting to take away the rights of pet owners. The little critters that we own have hours a day spent on them and on top of that we also spend tons of money on our little pets to insure they get proper care. These creatures in capitivity live to more then twice the age they would live to in the wild because we go to extended lengths to make sure then get everything they need and then some. To me it sounds like we people should be getting rewarded not punished for what we are doing.
Sincerely
Lina Krickemeyer,
Langley Resident
Dear Lina:
Thank you for your letter. You have raised some important issues. I, too, have some questions about the scope of the proposed bylaw. Your concerns will be given careful attention, even if you live in Langley!
John H. Redekop
City Councillor
Abbotsford
